There’s something invigorating about exploring any sort of unknown. On the Toddlers’ 19 EP, maybe it’s Nathan Toben’s soaring and powerful croon a la Roy Orbison, the tangled layers of instrumentation that balance delicacy with harshness or the overall mesmerizing and melancholic breed of “pop noir” that perpetuates a sense of mystery in the best way possible.
Compared to the rather brooding album intro, “Independence Day” explodes, and wonderfully so. The hard-as-nails guitar licks and fast-paced beats move in line with Missy Thangs’ poppy keys, and everything builds to climax alongside Toben’s growing vocals. Additionally, the song’s placement between two pared down numbers only amplifies its impact.
Then, on “Dance In The Rain,” the listener is snapped back to the era of Jim Morrison, as Toben’s vocals draw themselves out more deeply against the minimal background of slow drums and watery, psychedelic guitar and synth combinations. Like true riders in the storm, Toddlers passionately continues going its own way.
But it’s the EP’s title track that moves most ethereally, as the background vocals gently echo to accompany the delicately floating harp. Although “19” acts more like a middle-of-an-album interlude, its placement toward the end still seems natural and the perfect complement to the brooding finale “Hold On.” Toben’s vocals seep with sadness as he bellows about the fading away of love, singing, “I cannot be, be the one to hold, hold on, hold on to your love.” In a depressingly beautiful way, the EP is brought full circle for the listener.
Perhaps _19_’s greatest weakness is its brevity, but this, of course, is excused because it’s an EP, after all. This short release serves as quite the tease for the Toddlers’ upcoming full-length, and it’s hard not to walk away from these songs begging, pleading and demanding more.
Dive Verdict: ?????
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
